LukeFRC Posted October 3 Posted October 3 22 minutes ago, LawrenceH said: Plugged in, the numeric display is (usefully) bright - hence it washes out the cameras as seen above. Looking carefully in person, I'd say it's up there with my Cali76 bass comp in terms of finish quality and apparent ruggedness, though obviously it's more 'functional' than 'graphic designer-y'. But on a pedal this complex I don't care, particularly when its from such a small company and getting it re-engineered to match a commissioned visual design brief would make it (much) more expensive. +1 - as a graphic designer there's easy wins you could make on small scale products like this - but equally small scale companies tend to (rightly) focus on engineering and not have budget (or know how to value) design. it's all good. Quote
Quatschmacher Posted October 3 Author Posted October 3 (edited) 4 minutes ago, LukeFRC said: +1 - as a graphic designer there's easy wins you could make on small scale products like this - but equally small scale companies tend to (rightly) focus on engineering and not have budget (or know how to value) design. it's all good. That’s some way off. I kid you not, it’s taken until now for them to say they should probably spend some money on marketing, seeing what it’s done for MXR. I’ve only been saying it for 6 years. Also, @LukeFRC, if you fancied sketching out a nice graphics idea sometime and putting it their way, they might well pay you to use it. Edited October 3 by Quatschmacher 2 Quote
Quatschmacher Posted October 4 Author Posted October 4 1 hour ago, LukeFRC said: decent review here... Cheers for sharing that. I’ve shared it with the team. Quote
LukeFRC Posted October 18 Posted October 18 This week I was kindly allowed into Chateau @Quatschmacher and try the FI4 VIP ... my background, I'm not an amazing player- but not awful and have messed around with synth type stuff in various Zoom multiFX then HX, H9 then the classic octave-fuzz-envelope thing... I've owned a C4 (twice) and sold it each time... One use which is a bit different to the normal synth bass/keybass type sounds is a pad sound I've used to fill in songs while playing at church (small church by US standards so sometimes only 2-3 musicians) I really really enjoyed the FI4 and need to work out if it will fit on my board... My thoughts... - Really premium enclosure - it's really nice metal box. - The tracking is amazing. I've got fairly good at playing clean and slightly before the beat from owning the C4 ... this you don't need too - it's so so fast and seemingly accurate - It can do rhythmic sounds - and works - you can add that little muted thump as a part of the rhythm and works - doesn't trigger the whole sound - a bit of a learning curve but you can choose how it reacts with your fingers - if your next note triggers the envelope again, or just glides to the next. (this has got a proper term in synth land) - The presets... like obviously you can build your own... but from what's available on the top it gives you edits from the preset! ... so rather than an absolute release time for example, it lets you fine tune from what's there! This makes so so much more sense - the sounds are really really good. Im pretty certain if you wanted the sounds of the fashionable MXR synth pedal it would do them... but suspect you have more control over how it articulates... - But most importantly to me - the C4 feels like you're playing a pedal- and the sounds are good enough to do that. The FI4 makes it sound like your bass sounds different. it's feel and how it reacts is so so natural feeling and musical. Honestly it was astounding - I had pretty much given up on synth bass and was going to go buy a wee synth and learn to play it... but now I'm rethinking. - I didn't scratch the surface of everything it could do! Short version: The very low latency makes it feel like a musical extension of your instrument. I like 6 Quote
LukeFRC Posted October 18 Posted October 18 33 minutes ago, Al Krow said: Great review, thanks Luke! £305 online for vip version. I’m tempted! Though if you’re selling one secondhand in a few weeks I can wait… 2 Quote
Al Krow Posted October 18 Posted October 18 32 minutes ago, LukeFRC said: £305 online for vip version. I’m tempted! Though if you’re selling one secondhand in a few weeks I can wait… And vice versa, haha! Have the prices come down a bit recently, I thought they were closer to £340 inc P&P? Quote
LawrenceH Posted October 18 Posted October 18 (edited) On 03/10/2025 at 22:03, Quatschmacher said: By the way, if you contact Panda you can get a free window film for the display. The first units didn’t have one fitted. I did this, got a prompt reply asking my address and an envelope arrived a few days later containing the film. I also mentioned some suggestions I've made here about presets and a tutorial video showing recreation of a classic bass sound from scratch. The response to these was very positive. It is a nice luxury when you as a consumer can communicate directly with the design team on a product like this. Edited October 18 by LawrenceH 2 Quote
jefbyos Posted yesterday at 12:47 Posted yesterday at 12:47 Hi @Quatschmacher Do you believe that somehow the on/off switch could be replaced (or reprogrammed as) a program down switch ? That way having up / down on the pedal itself, and either moving the on/off elsewhere on the enclosure or using an external looper for activating / déactivating the effect... Just a thought Quote
LawrenceH Posted yesterday at 14:51 Posted yesterday at 14:51 2 hours ago, jefbyos said: Hi @Quatschmacher Do you believe that somehow the on/off switch could be replaced (or reprogrammed as) a program down switch ? That way having up / down on the pedal itself, and either moving the on/off elsewhere on the enclosure or using an external looper for activating / déactivating the effect... Just a thought Not who you were asking but the program change footswitch already lets you do up/down based on how quickly you click - not perfect of course, but once you get used to it it works well. Quote
Quatschmacher Posted 23 hours ago Author Posted 23 hours ago (edited) 2 hours ago, jefbyos said: Hi @Quatschmacher Do you believe that somehow the on/off switch could be replaced (or reprogrammed as) a program down switch ? That way having up / down on the pedal itself, and either moving the on/off elsewhere on the enclosure or using an external looper for activating / déactivating the effect... Just a thought Stuff like that is eminently possible, but I can’t see that most folks would want it to come at the expense of the engage/bypass switch. Besides, that has other functionality (tuner and access to global menu) that would become inaccessible due to long-press-to-scroll if replacing it with program down. Edited 23 hours ago by Quatschmacher Quote
jefbyos Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Yes, actually was thinking about two possibilities Either a third switch, as those having the big enclosure like myself have space for it - depends if the board can accomodate an extra switch. If not possible to add a button to the current board, but the board can accept a change of function of the Bypass to program down, it would be nice for those using their FI with a MFX on the FX loop (or a looper). I myself use a Boss MS-3 and could dedicate a loop for that bit. Of course the MIDI can do Program Changes but sometimes you may want to change the presets on FI alone, without changing on the other device. Quote
BigRedX Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago Having been taken to task on a couple of other threads about synth bass pedals, I'm have a serious look at the Future Impact. It looks as though the VIP version might be small enough to fit in the 150mm x 95mm space on the top of my Helix Floor between the page right button, the expression pedal the volume control and the top set of foot switches. However the location of the input and output sockets, the MIDI in socket and the power in socket might scupper this plan as they all need to feed past the Helix output volume and phone volume knobs. can anyone provide measurement for the locations of these? Also the web page doesn't provide any information about the PSU supplied. Is it a wall wart or does it have a separate 13amp plug? It looks as thought it is possible to trigger the filter using MIDI note information without also feeding the MIDI synth into it. Can someone confirm this is the case? What I want to do is to just process my bass via the filter but have the ADSR which controls the filter respond to MIDI note information for attack and release rather than the envelope of the input signal. Can I do this? 1 Quote
jefbyos Posted 1 hour ago Posted 1 hour ago I don't have all these answer but I can say that it needs 9VDC / 200 mA, boss type. So it can be powered by some serious multi-output PSU on a pedalboard - unlike your Helix I would assume. Also, maybe these little plugs would help you integrate on your board : https://www.cme-pro.com/midi-cables/ https://www.rockboard.de/en/cables/ Also the link to the FI manual should help (thoughnot for the pedal dimensions, at least for MIDI instructions) https://www.auraplug.com/panda/downloads/FI User Guide v4.11.pdf Quote
BigRedX Posted 45 minutes ago Posted 45 minutes ago This bit from the manual looks as though it will do what I want: Quote Synth Mode and EWI Mode These two modes are for playing the FI4 solely via a MIDI controller. Both modes are identical except for the initialization of MIDI CC values. (See the table on the next page.) The FI4’s audio input is decoupled from the pitch-detection circuit and all envelope triggering. Your instrument’s audio signal can still be routed through the VCF Block and the Effects Block, but the envelopes and synthesizer notes will only be riggered via the MIDI input. Looking at the screen shot of the editor page it looks as though I can turn off the volume of the synth section without affecting the volume to the audio input through the VCF. Can @Quatschmacher confirm? Also can I use one of those DIN to USB MIDI leads to access the editor software? Or do I need a proper MIDI interface? The low profile MIDI and jack plugs look as though they will allow me to fit the device in the space on my Helix. The only sticking point is the PSU. Does that mean that no PSU is supplied with the device? The Helix provides phantom power via its Mic input but I don't think there's sufficient current even when dropped to 9v. At the moment my Helix is my pedalboard. So I don't have any external PSUs and IME they are most common source of failure (usually on the low voltage cable and connector side) when used in gigging situations. The whole point of looking at the FI VIP is that it won't make my on-stage pedal footprint any bigger. Quote
Quatschmacher Posted 2 minutes ago Author Posted 2 minutes ago 40 minutes ago, BigRedX said: Looking at the screen shot of the editor page it looks as though I can turn off the volume of the synth section without affecting the volume to the audio input through the VCF. Can @Quatschmacher confirm? Also can I use one of those DIN to USB MIDI leads to access the editor software? Or do I need a proper MIDI interface? Correct, you can route your dry input into the filter (with separate pre- and post-distortion level controls) without having the synth be active; this is how I program stuff like envelope filters on the FI. Any standard cheap USB-to-MIDI cable will work. Worth having a read of the FAQs at the end of the manual as it may answer stuff you want to know. Quote
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